To boil the fish: Rub the fish with lemon-juice and salt, put it in a kettle, and cover it with court bouillon. Let it only simmer, not boil hard, until thoroughly done. Serve the fish on a napkin, surrounded with parsley. Serve a caper, pickle, or any kind of fish sauce, in a sauce-boat.
To Fry Fish.
By frying fish I mean that it is to be immersed in hot lard, beef drippings, or olive-oil. Let there be a little more fat than will cover the fish; otherwise it is liable to stick to the bottom and burn. Do not put in the fish until the fat is tested, and found to be quite hot. If the fat were not hot enough, the fish would absorb some of it, making it greasy and unwholesome. If it is hot enough, the fish will absorb nothing at all.
To prepare fish for frying, dredge them first with flour; then brush them with beaten egg, and roll them in fine or sifted bread, or cracker crumbs. When they are browned on one side, turn them over in the hot fat. When done, let them drain quite dry.
Cutlets of any large fish are particularly nice egged and bread-crumbed, fried, and served with tomato sauce or slices of lemon.
Fish Fried in Batter.
Cut almost any kind of fish in fillets or pieces one-fourth of an inch thick, and one or two inches square; only be careful to have them all of the same shape and size. Sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and roll each one in batter (No. 2, page 98). Fry them in boiling lard. Arrange them tastefully in a circle, one overlapping the other. Garnish with fresh or fried parsley. Potatoes à la Parisienne may be piled in the centre, and sauce Tartare ([see page 128]) served separately in a sauce-boat.
To Broil Fish.
The same rule applies to broiling fish as to every thing else. If the fish is small, it requires a clear, hot fire. If the fish is large, the fire must be moderate; otherwise the outside of the fish would be burned before the inside is cooked. Many rub the fish over with olive-oil; others split a large fish; still others broil it whole, and cut notches at equal distances across its sides. When you wish to turn the fish, separate carefully with a knife any part of it which sticks to the gridiron; then, holding a platter over the fish with one hand, turn the gridiron over with the other, leaving the fish on the platter: it will now be a more easy matter to turn it without breaking. As soon as the fish is done, sprinkle over pepper and salt, and spread butter all over it with a knife. Set it in the oven a moment, so that the butter may soak in the fish. This is the most common way of seasoning it. It is almost as easy to first sprinkle pepper and salt, then a few drops of lemon-juice, over the fish; then a table-spoonful of parsley, chopped fine; then some melted butter over all. Put it a moment in the oven to soak. They call this a maître-d’hôtel sauce. Quite simple, is it not? It is especially nice for a broiled shad.